Chapter V She Made Me Laugh, She Made Me Cry

March 07, 2008

Chapter V: I Have To Know Why

Moises picked up the pencil his mom had used to write her note to him. He began to write his own, “Dear Mom, Sorry that I did not obey your wishes or dads. I know that this time something is wrong with my friends parents up in the mountains. She bought wound supplies at the drug store and ran up the mountain side. They have no one to turn to and I seem to be her only friend. Mom, dad, you always told me to do what I felt was right and to follow my heart. My heart tells me that something terrible has happened and I might be the only one that might be able to help. If I don’t make it home by the time you get here, please don’t worry. You know where I am and I will be very careful as I make the climb. I will not travel in the dark, so I might have to stay up in the mountains, then I will head on home early in the morning, Love, Moises.” He packed an extra set of clothes and some snacks that his mother had left him to eat. Next, he wrapped his clothes around an old flashlight that his parents had around the house for emergencies when the lights went out. Moises tried out the batteries and found his old bow and arrow set that his father had made for him for Christmas. He was not a marksman yet, but the countless hours of practice had made him a good shooter. Taking more risks than necessary would require some kind of a back up plan. Being prepared was a lesson he had learned from the first time he had gone up the mountain and he was still a little shaken from it. With everything neatly tugged away in his school backpack he ran out the door. After a hundred or so feet away from the house he remembered leaving the house unlocked. He ran back and took care of it. Within ten minutes he was at the path that would lead him up the mountain and towards Antonia’s house. He was sweating profusely after running so hard to reach the trail. He knew he had to hurry before the sun would set. It was easy to find his way up since he had previous experience. However; it was still difficult to maneuver around many obstacles along the trail. Being careful not to arouse any attention to himself near the cave was his first objective. Even though nothing had gone wrong once he had ventured inside, he didn’t have time to explore or seek answers to it’s mystery. After two and a half hours of nonstop climbing Antonia’s house came into view. He paused for a minute to catch his breath and then continued on. This time the front door was opened as he could see the candlelight in the background. He approached cautiously not knowing what to expect. Suddenly there appeared Antonia at the front door with a worried look on her face. It was a sad face that he had never seen on her before. She always seemed to find time to smile no matter what the circumstances, but on this occasion there was no joy. “What are you doing here Moises? It is nearly dark and you know you will not be able to climb down. You sure took a bad time to come visiting. It is not safe to roam the mountain side after hours. Is there something I can help you with?, ” asked the young girl.

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He replied, “No, there is nothing wrong with me. On the contrary I thought you might need some help. I stopped at the pharmacy and found out you took some medicines that are associated with wounds. I thought for sure that someone might have gotten hurt up here and you were trying to get some supplies for it. Well, can I be of any help?” She led him in the door and into the back room. There he found his answers to many of his mysteries. In the bed was a gigantic of a creature, or so he thought. His feet were the size of two of his own. They were covered with fur as was the rest of it’s body. The head was well extended over the front portion of the headrest. The size of the thing that laid on the bed dwarf everything in the house. He then noticed the blood that was seeping through the bandages that surrounded it’s huge chest as Antonia continued to apply pressure. She then summons his help, “Here, hold these while I go outside and light the fire to boil some more water! Don’t get scared if he wakes up, he knows you too!” Then she ran out the back door. He immediately went about his task. His eyes couldn’t stop starring at the face of the creature that was lying there bleeding to death. He had a very good idea about what Antonia had said about the creature knowing him too. Before he could reason with it the peaceful looking creature opened it’s eyes and starred him back. A smile on it’s face followed and Moises knew there was nothing to fear. After about a half hour Antonia came back with some hot water and they both took the blood soaked bandages off the creature. They cleanse the wounds and slowed the bleeding with the new tight fitting bandages. The person underneath the furry body nodded it’s approval and then soon went back to sleep. The two friends went outside after cleaning up the messy room. They too needed to wash off the blood and get some much needed rest. As they did they talked for hours on in. There were many questions on both sides and they wanted to get to know each other again. Both of them found out that each other’s parents had been approached about having to be out of town. They figured that it had not been by coincidence and something urgent must have come up. As the fire outside the house continued to flicker their conversations became lengthy. The smile on Antonia’s face illuminated with the fire that lasted throughout the night. Neither one of them got sleepy as they watched over the fallen friend during the long hours that they waited for Antonia’s parents to arrive.